The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his Academical Village, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The original governing Board of Visitors included three U.S. presidents: Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe, the latter as sitting president of the United States at the time of its foundation. As its first two rectors, Presidents Jefferson and Madison played key roles in the university’s foundation, with Jefferson designing both the original courses of study and the university’s architecture. Located within its historic 1,135-acre central campus, the university is composed of eight undergraduate and three professional schools: the School of Law, the Darden School of Business, and the School of Medicine.
The University of Virginia’s scholars have played a major role in the development of many academic disciplines, including economics, law, literary art, visual art, and the sciences. Admission to UVA is among the most selective of public universities in the United States, its endowment is among the largest, and the university is known in part for its historic foundations, student-run honor code, and secret societies. The university has been a member of the Association of American Universities for 120 years.